ASUS offers an incredibly extensive and confusing range of motherboards based on the Intel P55 Express chipset. Their "basic" P7P55 series alone has 13 different models, and this does not even include the other P55 models from the Sabertooth and ROG (Republic Of Gamers) series! This table summarizes the key differences of the various models in the ASUS P7P55 series of motherboards :

The huge number of models allow you to choose the features you want, down to minute details like whether you want a single or dual LAN ports. This is frankly rather unnecessary. Even though the ASUS website has a cool feature which allows you to compare the many models, it's not easy for newbies to go through the various models and decide which model suits them best. Fortunately, I managed to find a model that exactly suits my needs - the ASUS P7P55D.

The ASUS P7P55D is a mid-range motherboard for the Intel LGA1156 platform. It is one of the cheaper options in the ASUS P7P55 series of Intel P55 Express motherboards, but it offers incredibly good value for money while providing features that other manufacturers only include in their high-end models.

The P7P55D does not come with support for SATA 6 Gbps or USB 3.0 since the Intel P55 chipset does not support those features. You can opt to include them by buying the E version (ASUS P7P55DE) but the extra features will cost you an extra RM 80 (US$ 26). If you don't need SATA 6 Gbps or USB 3.0 support right now, why pay extra for them?

The ASUS P7P55D also does not have full SLI support, but then again, I don't intend to purchase any power hungry dual GPU solutions. If you do, be prepared to top up another RM 60 (US$ 20) just for full SLI support. For me, the ASUS P7P55D offers just about the right mix of features, saving me RM 140 (US$ 46) over its pricier brothers.

Packaging & Contents

Don't expect too much from the P7P55D. After all, it's supposed to be a budget-level P55 Express motherboard! The box looks quite fancy, but there's not much inside.

Above the motherboard are bunch of accessories. You will find :

Two user guides

One Installation DVD

Four SATA cables

Four Ultra-DMA IDE cables

Two ASUS Q-Connector kits

One ASUS Q-Shield

That's it! Just enough to get you started. The package does not include any eSATA cables or USB brackets.

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